you can never leave home again

The Traveling Kitty Hotel Revealed

This is the parking lot of the biggest truck stop in the world in Iowa. And there’s the back of the truck opened up to reveal our traveling kitty cat hotel. I had all sorts of worries and thought if worst came to worst they’d wind up in the cat carrier up front, but so far so good. Click here for the flickR notes and a little more detail. It’s fully carpeted with two balconies and an “extension” that contains their litter box. But really they prefer hotel floors to take care of their business. Justin built the entire thing from scraps: the wood, the carpet, the chickenwire – even the latch for the door was reused.

To make sure they were comfortable, we kept the hotel in the apartment for a few days before leaving. We put their favorite toys inside plus familiar pillows and cat nip and they totally fell for it. They spent plenty of time in there and got adjusted to it before we even left, none the wiser to our hidden agenda.

We stop every few hours to check on them and give them love. They always seem happy to see us so that’s a good sign. You can see them lounging here on their favorite balcony, looking all sleepy. Their eyes need time to adjust to the bright sun after being holed up in the dark, but I think they look so cute when they’re all squinty like that. You can see the entrance to the extension underneath them.

I couldn’t get a good shot of Avocado, so this will have to do.

When we get to Portland I’m hoping to take them outside often, they seem to love it.

As for us, we’re in a motel in Des Moines watching the Lawrence Welk show on PBS. There isn’t much going on, we hope to make it across Nebraska tomorrow and into Wyoming. And that’s as boring as it sounds.